Mirrors :: LOVELESS
by Spineless-sama
Summary: Ritsuka took Blank Fighter Agatsuma Soubi, whom was released from His brother, Beloved upon death. Beloved has returned, and Soubi is easily compromised at the worst of times... all the while, Loveless' true Sentouki has emerged.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:** ** _Strain_**

 _"Ritsuka! Ritsuka!"_

The first words that had left his lips when he'd met his fated Sacrifice. Loveless. Aoyagi Ritsuka. Now, they came out in a rasping cry. Those words had been the only thing Ritsuka heard from his Fighter's lungs. The ravenette had never even gotten a proper name from his Sentouki. Just this. And as rumor had it, the youngest Aoyagi couldn't remember anything from the age of ten and below.

So the memory was naught.

The Sentouki for Loveless cried for his partner again. Louder. His voice cracked and it came out as a thin, sick scream, and he woke himself. Damp and hot, he rolled to his side, struggling with the sheets of his futon. They clung to his frame and his mouth was dry. Uncomfortable beyond belief, he thrashed and managed to get the damnable cotton off.

Better. But not _there_. He ran his tongue over thin lips to attempt to get fluids going, and found no avail. He whined, throat sore, stomach rolling and angry as he looked around for a glass of water.

Sick for a week and they didn't bring any today! He flattened his ears and turned to the side of his futon, panting, sweat-slick and feverish. Again, no water glass left for him. Not today. He felt better than he had in the last few days for certain. His fever had broke, and had returned more mildly...

The Fighter retched. The few contents of his stomach would have come up in a nasty mess across the wood of his suite, but a tin dish had been put there in expectancy of this. No water, but a mess dish.

Loveless groaned and wiped the foul spittle from his mouth, before rising to a crouch, sheets clinging to his ill frame. Taking the time to simply breathe, his stomach calmed, and with it, his shivering subsided. Good. Another groan of protest, and he pushed himself slowly to his feet, padding towards a mirror that rest against the wall. A full body mirror. He approached it nude.

A look of determination crossed the teenaged male, and he even perked up his pale ears. This was a familiar ritual to him. For a moment, he stood, staring at his reflection. Searching. Always searching. Longing. Needing.

He was no Blank.

He bent and sighed, tracing his hands across the Achilles and moving upwards. Reaching his tail's base, he gave up. Kneeling there by his mirror, he stared again at himself. Questioning.

His name was Loveless. He was the partner chosen by fate itself for the Aoyagi boy. And yet... And yet he was not there. He was not with his partner. It hurt. Oh how terribly so, too! He longed for Ritsuka. Needed his other half. He was half a decade the others senior, but that did not matter. He had been born for Beloved's younger brother.

Silence.

Silence.

 _*Snap!*_

Fury. White-hot and ice cold, all at once. His stomach roiled, and his expression darkened as he stared at the mirror. His bare shoulders he was no longer seeing, but the face of Beloved's sin. Agatsuma Soubi. He'd only seen the adult once, maybe twice. But he needed no more than that, even if it was never in person.

 _Agatsuma!_ The adult whom had served Aoyagi Seimei. And lived and thrived in the sin of surviving Beloved's Gisei. He claimed it was told of him, rumors said. But a Fighter _does not survive their Sacrifice._ Even a faked death.

 _Agatauma Soubi..._

He whom took a second name. Loveless. Beloved. Loveless. The name was not his to have. And yet he did. It tore Loveless' true Fighter to shreds inside. He wanted to scream. To cry. His heart fluttered in his chest as he crawled away from the mirror, ill and hot and quite infuriated. He shivered as he let off a high, thin scream through his teeth, and collapsed on his futon. His hands shook as they found a pillow, tearing uselessly at it as he screamed again. This time, he screamed no words, but was yelling for Soubi.

Yelling for Soubi's blood.

 _I'll kill him! This Agatsuma Soubi has no right to live!_ His mind clung to this like a sacred mantra. But it ceased with a cold turn of his stomach and he retched, choking as he tried to force out what could not. Afterwards, he found no use in moving, and clung to his clawed up pillow for support, trying to calm himself as fever flushed his system. He groaned.

 _VRRRR! VRRRRR! VRRR! VRRRRR!_

The boy started, and looked up, panting faintly. His phone.

It vibrated on the wood table in his room, and he rose to get it. Forgetting his ill state, he rose and ran for the device. Plucking the charger's chord from the cell phone, he looked at the screen. Miss Nagisa.

He stumbled a moment, but righted himself, and answered the call. "Hello, Miss Nagisa?"

 _"State your name, kiddo._ "

"Loveless. Fighter."

" _Good. We're going out today, Loveless. The worst of your flu broke the other night. You're well enough to come now. Hurry up. You know I'm impatient!"_

"Yes Miss Nagisa. Right away." He looked towards the small weather calender. It was snowing today. It would be cold. "Bye Miss Nagisa," he hummed, waiting for her goodbye. She was fond of him. She might have something more to say, even.

 _"That's all, my dear. Bundle up - Goodbye. I love you."_ The line went dead.

Even so, his face twisted in an angry bout of grief and he flattened his ears. "Don't say that! Miss Nagisa, that... that's not yours to say..." he half sobbed into the Phone, pulling it from his ear and setting it down. His eyes where bright with fever and tears. But tears did not come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:** ** _Tokyo_**

Stuffing his phone into the front pocket of his jeans, the male stole a last glance at himself in his mirror. His head bore a black, rather floppy cap, pinning his ears to his head, hidden. His hair was a light brown, almost a dark blond, even. A caramel color was its best description, and bone straight as it fell down his neck and just long enough to brush his broadening shoulders. A somewhat deep brow on his narrow face, still young, gave way to dark eyes full of his search.

He looked bitterly away

Annoyed, the Fighter swallowed and he straightened the collar of his tunic shirt, sweating faintly already. From the corner of his eyes he saw that his reddened cheeks would not die down, so he made himself deal with it, and pulled on a silk coat of jet black, where on the wide, short sleeves there was golden cuffing that matched with the embroidery down his chest. The white tunic shirt Loveless wore beneath it was rimmed with black threading and had long sleeves that hugged his thin arms... Simple, but flashy.

Cute, even. After all, Miss Nagisa had bought this for his most recent birthday.

For pants he wore dark, skin tight jeans and let his tail stay in view even if his ears were not. Dark brown leather boots came to his kneecaps, with a slight heel, but not much. Reaching into his closet, he pulled out a long, dark grey scarf and wrapped that around his neck so that it covered his nose as well.

With that, the abandoned Sentouki left this suite and made his way to the main lobby of the academy's main office.

There he found the bubbly older woman standing with a distinctively tall man. Ritsu-sensei. The most notorious teacher here, Loveless had trained with Ritsu several times. He shuddered, eyes narrowing as he dragged his gaze from the clingy professor. "Oi. I'm here," he rasped, coughing once, twice into his hand before trying to approach the pair. Per usual the two were in a heated discussion... presumably over research or (more likely) nothing of weight.

At the caramel-haired Fighter's approach, they broke off their conversation and turned towards him. Ritsu said nothing, eyeing Loveless, and the young male had to fight the crawling sensation that made him think Ritsu was eyeing him as he would do Soubi. Since, of course, he no longer had eyes... Nagisa was pleased and bounced over to pat his cheek, before greeting him.

"Looking better, Tai-kun...If I didn't know better, I'd say meeting with your Sacrifice would make you even healthier,"Minami purred from behind Miss Nagisa. The Fighter flinched.

" _Tai-kun_?!" His female associate gave a dirty and incredulous look at the former Sacrifice. For once, Loveless' Sentouki dared to give a similar look.

It would cause rumors and issues...

The blinded teacher merely gave a sly smile and responded casually: "It's what I call my student, Miss Sagan."

" _WHAAAT_?! Ritsu, his name is Taisho. Say his full name with me: _Taaaiishooo Hooosoookaaawaaa._ Say it!"

"No. I will keep my nickname for him..."

Dreading the day to come, he coughed a few times and shivered,hugging himself. Before another argument could break out, he called for his two teachers. At this they seemed to smooth out and remember their cause for being here. Almost at the same time they went to the door,but Nagisa brushed past Taishi, whereas Ritsu-sensei had paused and given Loveless a nudge.

The Fighter for Loveless didn't have the mentality to pretend Ritsu-sensei had guided him by the hand out the door. And he had followed without question...

By late afternoon, Loveless was worn from the various try outs of clothes Miss Sagan Nagisa had showered on him. It wasn't his birthday nor was any big holiday any time soon, but she flaunted him like a doll. Ritsu had sheltered him from some things, but the silence was a lack of comfort when the Hosokawa boy was expecting an order. Although, Ritsu had bought something. For himself, presumably,since both Loveless and Nagisa had attempted and failed to pry the teacher to tell what he'd bought... and who for.

A bitter silence followed by underhanded insults had quieted their curiosity and the topic was abandoned.

The trio sat in a pastry cafe, Loveless between his two bickering teachers. While he ate his french eclair, he thought it how funny his caretaker, Miss Nagisa, was so blind to so much, while Ritsu-sensei was so painfully perceptive.

Taisho even laughed a little. To himself of course, but Nagisa caught this and clapped. "There! Having a good time, see kiddo?"

He felt his light brown hair being mussed and looked up at the woman. His blue eyes were flickering with a mix of thought and emotion. The teacher, ever ignorant to his emotional state, took it as a good thing and flaunted it to her counterpart while Taisho tried to replace his hat on his head.

Ritsu half ignored her, and turned the abandoned Fighter's head to face him. Regardless of having no eyes to see with, Taisho felt as if Ritsu was staring at him. And perhaps he was.

Ritsu had seen him before, only once, so he was sure the renowned Sacrifice was remembering that image...but who knows what else !the teacher thought..

"Ne...Enjoy it while you can, Tai-kun."

The Hosokawa boy's ears flattened, pulled back against his head. But he nodded at the elder's words. He was seventeen... and felt he had every reason to fear the other male's motives. He had learned through experience.

So he nodded again and thanked his two teachers gravely, and resumed eating his pastry, tail tip twitching.

Even Sagan Nagisa was quieted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:** ** _Butterfly_**

 _They had been up to something._

That was his first thought the moment he lay down on his futon.

His new clothing had been put away. Some of them,at least. He had set the last two bags by his closet, too tired to continue the task of putting them away.

Taisho wasn't very good with his hands. So the simple seeming task of putting bags of clothes up on hangers wasn't exactly so simple. He was exhausted now, so he promised himself to finish the next morning.

And coughed himself to sleep.

Despite his ill state of body, he had fallen quickly onto his dream realm. But it was not entirely an unconscious dreaming he went through...it didn't seem that way to the Hosokawa boy, anyways.

His dreams were livid. And despite his sense of impending horror for the next day, Taisho had pleasant dreams.

More pleasant than he had in a long time.

 _Fifteen. He was turning Fifteen! And what was best was this: Ritsu-sensei had agreed with Beloved to bring him over._

 _To meet his Gisei._

 _Over the past few months, he had had the vague sense that something was bound to happen._

 _Beloved's Sacrifice had come in more than a handful of times. Usually to talk to Ritsu-sensei about his Fighter. But every so often... maybe once or twice a month if he was lucky, the ravenette with the pretty ears and tail had come not to see his teacher, but to see Taisho himself._

 _Mostly Taisho would be chatted with by the older, but then more of an interviewing had ensued._

 _The interviews always made him feel flighty and fidgit. Sei-san's questions were hard!_

 _And he couldn't lie about his answers or make it up. Oh no, that was impossible. He had tried when he couldn't give a decent sounding answer, and the Aoyagi had called him out._

 _Don't say such foolish things. If you don't have an answer, my little brother wouldn't like it... but he'd hate if he heard you lying, Hosokawa-kun._

 _These words had scared him once he realized Seimei told no lies... only self-truths. So he had become a very truthful person..._

 _And an even more adept liar._

 _But he didn't often see Seimei. As before, he kept mostly to Minami Ritsu. Taisho was an afterthought. But worth enough as Ritsuka's Sentouki to be paid attention to._

 _His visits from Beloved became more common as he got closer to his birthday, however. And his teachings suddenly took a drastic turn. Especially when Sei-san had brought his fighter once, as an example to Taisho of what he should be like._

 _But it seemed that the moment he had bowed to Agatsuma, the alumni Sentouki had excused himself._

 _Ritsu-sensei had seemed to respond. That same night, for the first since his training even begun, his back had been cut to ribbons and he had passed out from the pain. Lashings were not a new thing... But after that particular visit, everything else had gotten significantly harder too._

 _Perhaps a month before Taisho's birthday on the terms of a Western 12-month calendar, he was told that an arrangement was being made to meet his Gisei for the first time._

 _He couldn't be more excited about it, so he had kept an eager mind for Ritsu and saved his excitement for being with Miss Nagisa._

 _November twenty-first. The day had come_.

He woke up coughing and hacking for a long while, gasping for breath as he rolled over in bed.

The warmth of his dream faded to the pain of his fever, and he coughed a few more times just trying to breath... trying to get comfortable.

His alarm clock read 3:00am.

He did not go back to sleep. Instead, he balled himself up and wept quietly, coughing and sneezing with the vengeance his illness had come back with.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:** _**Sensei no Chou**_

The seventeen-year-old's fingers trembled as he reached for the buzzing phone. It was just out of his reach... but Taisho could reach it.

Or not.

He grumbled moodily to himself about being short for his age, and got on his knees, raising himself just a bit to clear the last few inches to the little black phone. Sitting back on his heels, he read the caller ID and flipped the phone open to accept the call.

"I'm here," he answered. He had been studying a list of vocabulary given to him the day before.

"Loveless, come to my office. Training. Bring only what your wear."

The Fighter male made a noise in response. Ritsu. Ritsu wanted him. And that was that.

The light brown haired Sentouki entered quietly, his ears lowered and his breath somewhat quick. _Fear. I'm scared._

He chastised his thoughts and shook them, blinking as he approached his eyeless teacher's desk. "Ritsu-sense, I'm here."

"Very well... Do you remember what we went over the last time you were here?"

Taisho had to think on this for a few moments. It had certainly-been awhile: two weeks now, he guessed. However, he _did_ remember.

The Hosokawa boy had been called up for the second time that week to Ritsu-sensei's office. The students around him had cast curious looks his way that morning, but he hadn't had the time nor mind to pay attention to their commentary. Two weeks ago, he had learned that Soubi had been momentarily reclaimed by Beloved... then returned to Ritsuka. It had Infuriated the whole of Septimal Moon. It had had been a scourge to Taisho himself.

" _Hai_ , I do. You had me try to think of orders Ritsuka might have given to keep me 'in line' if I were to ever be taken away by you or even Seimei."

"Good... today we're going to do something a little different." As Ritsu tapered off, Taisho perked his ears up, a bit concerned while the blinded man fished through his drawers.

Taisho shuddered at the sight of the teacher's whip, but was instead surprised when Ritsu pulled out a piercing kit from some years ago and the purchase from there shopping trip.

"I'm going to pin you like a butterfly of mine... Pain endurance, Tai-kun."

His cobalt gaze widened, and he felt his body tremble. _Pain endurance...?_


End file.
